Wednesday, 22 July 2020

I might swap my Brompton front wheel out

My Orange Black Special Edition originally came with a standard wheel. Almost immediately this wheel was off and I replaced it with a SON dynamo wheel. I also fitted an Edulux II front light and a SON rear LED light. Recently I have been thinking of going back to the original wheel and taking all the dynamo lights off.

There is of course nothing wrong with the SON wheel or light set up and if anything they are very convenient. The words fit and forget spring to mind. I do however have a few niggles with this setup.

The first is that that the wire bracket supporting the front light frequently snaps. I have gone through loads of them on this bike and my former P-type that had the same light. It got so bad that I actually carried a spare wire bracket with me just in case! I know a few other Brompton friends that this has happened to and I don't know whether it is just me or the type of adventures I embark upon but the problem is there. 

Fed up with this I replaced it with a much stronger one that eradicated this problem but created another. With this new, stronger bracket I could not use the front carrier block with a bag attached as the light would rub against it. The trouble is I do want to use a front bag now and then rather than a saddle bag.

The light output for the front and rear lights is pretty good and the fact you don't need to think about  batteries or charging your lights is a bonus. For me - others may disagree - they are not good enough on their own for the sort of riding I like to do, which are night rides to the coast. On these I put my faith in a good battery light to illuminate the path ahead. 

So, what am I going to do. Well, I want the front carrier block on this bike again. I think I might try out the wire bracket and see how things go. If it snaps again in the near future I think I may well swap the wheel over and take the dynamo lights off. Watch this space.

Stay safe out there people!!






3 comments:

  1. Interesting to hear this since I was only the other day thinking about adding a dynamo wheel and light to my Bromton... But I do use the front bag almost all the time when commuting and quite often on other rides - for examle I find it convenient to carry my camera (medium format film beast, not a pocketable compact) with all the paraphernalia...

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  2. I have dynamo wheel and light and use front bag every ride and have 0 issue. And my roads are not good at all

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    1. What sort of light do you have Luc? I have't had any issues with the one on my Flame Lacquer - which is a lot lighter than my Edulux II. I suspect the slightly heavier light on that bracket is the issue.

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